In this video I'm going to provide insights into the Eddie hall and
Hafthor Bjornsson boxing match as well as giving my prediction on the winner of
the fight. Make sure you comment below who you think
is going to win. So Hafthor Bjornsson just successfully lifted a 501 kilogram
deadlift beating Eddie Hall's record of 500 kilos
Almost immediately after Eddie released a video congratulating Thor but also
challenging him to a boxing match; something that has been in a pipeline
for quite a long time. Now as I understand it, Eddie and Thor used to
be relatively friendly as competitors of the World's Strongest Man
however when Eddie beat Thor in the 2017 World's Strongest Man apparently afterwards
Thor accused him of cheating. He's never apologized or retracted his statement
and it seems to be where their disagreement originated. You get to go up
against the guy that bested you at World's Strongest Man 2017 the man you called a
cheat and it all ends in the ring and that's where I'm gonna teach you a
fucking lesson. Both athletes have now signed contracts with Core Sports for
what I understand is a seven-figure paycheck for both of them. There was no
date confirmed for the fight yet but it's most likely to take place in 2021
Now just because you're super strong doesn't necessarily mean that you can
fight however there are videos of both athletes boxing in the past
Eddie perhaps has the most experience from what I've seen. In 2012 he took part
in a charity boxing match which was three two-minute rounds. Now there are a
few things I stood out to me in that event the first was that Eddie is
actually surprisingly nimble and agile for someone of his size. Additionally if
anyone has ever fought or sparred before you know how even the fittest
individuals will find it very physically taxing which is why you may have heard
the expression the difference between being fit and fighting fit. Although
Eddie was clearly guessing out towards the end of the fight I thought we did
very well which would be encouraging with the right preparation. Next his
technique was very rough and ready and he was relying on his raw power to get
him through the fight. And finally he was relatively easy to hit in particular his
head movement was probably his weakest defensive weakness
However since that fight there have been lots of other videos of him training in
boxing including recent footage of him training with fellows Stokie and
ex-professional boxing champion Scott Lawton. Eddie has already slimmed down
quite a lot from his world Strongest Man physique and I expect he will slim down
much more so he's not carrying so much weight around on fight night.
In contrast looking at Thor he is currently absolutely huge after
just pulling the five hundred and one kilogram deadlift
so no doubt he will use a long prep time to also reduce his weight
quite considerably. From a fight experience perspective there was the
viral footage of him sparring with Conor McGregor a few years ago which while
cool as a publicity stunt doesn't really he tell us anything about his fighting
skills. There is some quite old footage of him sparring however which does
provide some interesting insights. Again I was surprised by the agility of
someone so large and his overall fitness. He was very aggressive coming forwards
but like Eddie very reliant on raw power and strength over technique. Defensively
again he lacked a lot of head movement so I was hit a lot and even started
looking away to avoid punches and using his size to hold his opponent at arm's
length. But apparently he is taking a fight extremely seriously and started
training for the fight the day after breaking the deadlift world record.
I'm ready. Are you ready Eddie? I'm not sure how authentic the beef is between Eddie and
Thor but kudos for generating the interest and getting a big money event
In terms of my prediction for who I think will win these are the factors
that I think will have the biggest impact. Number one is the size difference
Thor is literally a man mountain and has a huge height weight and reach advantage
over Eddie. Overall weight could also be a disadvantage if the fight goes on for
a long time. Number two is conditioning most people
are expects them to both gas out fairly early so whoever has the best
conditioning to fight through the whole fight will have a big advantage
Number three is defense; most people can get in a ring and throw a punch
but defense and head movement are much harder skills to learn. Being able to hit
and not get hit is even more important when dealing with two powerhouses like
Eddie and Thor. Number four is technique. Technique is important not just for the
delivery of power and landing your shots but also for energy conservation
Throwing arm punches and relying on power alone can be really really
draining on your reserves. And number five is fight duration; these guys will
likely fight best in short explosive bursts. The longer the fight goes on the
harder it will be for both of them. The length of the round and the total number
of rounds in a fight or make a massive difference to their approach. I think the
worst case scenario for this fight is that they both go out trying to knock each
other's heads off gas out quickly and end up largely inactive after the first
round ending up in a bit of a dull affair
The best-case scenario will be a stoppage by the referee. The kind of
clubbing shots I'm expecting to see from them are far less likely to result in
someone being knocked out cold. Generally those types of KO come from clean
accurate shots landing via counter shot or great technique. Of course either one
has the power to land the one punch KO, I just think is unlikely to happen. I think
the person who is most likely to win is whoever has the best a strategy that
they can stick to. If they come out guns blazing in the first round and don't get
the KO, they're gonna be gassed out for the rest
of the fight. If they have an intelligent game plan that they can stick to on the
night they're more likely to come out on top
Despite the size difference I currently favor Eddie to win. My opinion may change
as we get closer to the event but from the information I have and what I've
seen so far, I think Eddie edges it in my opinion. Let me know in the comments
below... Who do you think will win and how?